QPR’s Mark Hughes: International breaks are never welcome after a loss

Mark Hughes has admitted Queens Park Rangers could have done without the international break, with west London outfit still chasing their first Premier League victory of the season.

The Hoops were beaten 3-2 by West Bromwich Albion in their last outing, leaving Hughes’ side rooted to the bottom of the table with just two points.

And QPR have been forced to wait a fortnight to get the chance to make amends for a disappointing result at the Hawthorns due to the recent round of World Cup qualifiers.

“When you’ve just come out of the back of a defeat, international breaks are never welcome,” said Hughes.

“Obviously you want to address things and get on with putting it right.”

Jamie Mackie and Ryan Nelsen were the only QPR squad members on international duty, with the striker featuring in Scotland’s defeats by Belgium and Wales, while the veteran centre-half was in action for New Zealand.

Despite a frustrating wait for the next league fixture, Hughes did concede the break had given him the chance to address QPR’s problems ahead of their game against Everton at Loftus Road on Saturday.

“In fairness, we’ve only had Nelsen and Mackie away,” he added.

“So we’ve been able to keep together most of the group together and put some work in which will benefit us hugely.

“Usually, you find you have got six or seven players away, the majority of them would be in the starting line-up when they come back.

“So in terms of the amount of meaningful work you can do, it’s sometimes difficult in an international week.

“But we’ve been fine in that respect because not many players were away and we’ve got good work done on the training ground.”